Tropical Storm Burevi to make landfall in Sri Lanka later this night; residents already evacuated in advance
Tropical Storm Burevi is expected to cross Sri Lanka tonight, and if it does indeed crosses the country, it will be the recent storm to directly affect Sri Lanka since Tropical Storm Ward in 2009, when it made landfall as a deep depression on the country.
Burevi is currently located near 8.9 degrees north, 82.4 degrees east, approximately 367 nautical miles to the east of Cochin, India. The storm currently has sustained winds of 45 mph (75 km/h), with gusts of 60 mph (95 km/h), and a minimum pressure of 1002 millibars. The storm is currently moving west-northwest at 12 knots (13 mph) and is expected to dump heavy rainfall on Sri Lanka, according to the Sri Lanka’s Department of Meteorology.
According to the department, Burevi is expected to dump very heavy rainfall, above 150 millimeters (6 inches) of rain at some places in northern and northwestern provinces of the country, with heavy rainfall, about 100 millimeters (4 inches) of rain at some places in eastern, north-central, western, central and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Galle and Matara districts of the southern province in the country. The country already had evacuated about 75,000 people from their homes in the east coast of the storm, and is likely to damage coastal buildings and power lines, and unleash flash floods, the Sri Lankan disaster management said.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the official Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) of the North Indian basin, had issued a Cyclone Warning for south Tamil Nadu and the south Kerala coasts. The centre also issued rainfall warnings in parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and damage is expected over the said areas under the Cyclone Warning.
Please prepare for this storm, as the storm can bring flash floods on some areas, and can cause damage. Keep updated with your local officials, and stay safe. Stay tuned for updates.
References:
- The Joint Typhoon Warning Center’s text warning for Burevi: https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/io0520web.txt
- Sri Lanka’s Department of Meteorology’s warning for Burevi: http://www.meteo.gov.lk/index.php?lang=en
- Al Jazeera’s news about the evacuation in Sri Lanka: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/2/sri-lanka-evacuates-thousands-as-cyclone-burevi-nears
- India Meteorological Department’s warning for Burevi: http://www.rsmcnewdelhi.imd.gov.in/images/cyclone_pdfs/indian_1606905232.pdf
